Lizabeth North

This is Moose and me doing hill sprints on a Sunday morning. 🥰

6 rounds.
Sprint up as hard as I can go.
Walk down.
Sit.
Recover fully until my heart rate comes down.
Then go again.

That is real HIIT. And it is not what most people are doing.

True HIIT means all out effort followed by complete recovery.

Not sort of hard for 45 minutes in a colored theory class.

All out for 20 to 30 seconds and then genuinely resting until you can go again.

The law of diminishing returns applies here.

✅More is not better. Better is better.

Here is why this matters for women in midlife specifically.

➡️HIIT produces a hormonal response similar to heavy strength training.
It stimulates human growth hormone and triggers something called EPOC (Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption).

Your body continues burning calories at an elevated rate for up to 24 hours after a true HIIT session as it works to restore itself to baseline.

➡️HIIT also improves VO2 max which is one of the strongest predictors of longevity available.

The better your body delivers and uses oxygen the longer and better you tend to live.

But here is the honest caveat for midlife women.

⚠️Intervals longer than 60 seconds can significantly increase cortisol.

For midlife women shorter bouts of truly intense effort may be more beneficial than longer sustained high intensity work.

2 to 3 sessions per week maximum.
8 minutes is enough when the intensity is genuine.

Any more and you risk elevating cortisol chronically which works directly against everything else you are building.

The Longevity Method™.
Link in bio.👆🏼

#women #health #cardio #sprint #hiit